Help! What Voightlander lenses to buy?

jbf

jbf

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Hi all,

I'm trying to plan out which lenses to get. So far here is the list that I have of various VC lenses that I am interested in:

15/4.6 $325


50/1.5 Nokton $339


40/1.4 Nokton $349


35/2.5 Color Skopar "PII" $319


28/1.9 Aspherical Ultron $444



So... here is my plan. I wanted to get three lenses basicaly. A normal lens (50 or 40), a medium wide lens, and the ultra-wide 15mm.

The size of the lens is something that is pretty important to me.

Originally I had thought about getting the 40mm Nokton, the 15 and a 28 or something. But the issue with this is that the only 28 offered by VC is with an f-stop of 4. I'm afraid that it won't be fast enough for me.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on what lenses they like and use?

They dont have to be VC lenses at all, but I am looking for cheaper lenses as I am on a budget and I would like lenses that perform well overall and with pretty good flare resistance as well.


Also, if using a camera such as the ZI or a Leica... just how hard is it to compose with a 40mm lens? Given that my cameras have neither 40mm framelines.
 
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I'd suggest:

CV50f2.5
CV40f1.4
CV28f3.5 or 25f4

There's no need for 2 fast lenses in your lineup if $ is a consideration, and there's no need for a 35 and a 40m lens (use the camera's 35mm framelines for either.)
 
I guess the main thing i was wondering was isnt the 40mm and 50 going to be practically the same angle of view? Obviously slightly different but arnt they pretty similar?

As far as lineups, I was never really thinking about a 40 and 35 together. More something along these lines:

40, 28 (or 25), and a 15

or

50, 35, and 15



Obviously I could easily buy the ZM 50 Planar (which i have thought about) and possibly the 35mm pancake....

but the main thing i was thinking is that I can get "more bang for the buck" by buying CV lenses. Which from as far as I can tell look and perform extremely well for their price range.

Ive also thought of possibly getting just the 28 Biogon and the 40mm Nokton.

But again it comes down to price-value ratio.
 
CV lenses are great value, IMO. The 40 and 50 are spaced sufficiently - just think of the 40 as a 35. The great thing about the 40 is it's speed and compactness. For some reason both the fast CV50 and CV35 are bigger (and more expensive IIRC).
 
Remember that the 50/1.5 has .9m min distance,
the 40/1.4 .7m. Which means by moving closer in a portrait
situation you can take similar photos, with even less DOF
with the 40/1.4.

So for landscapes you can treat it as a 35, for portraits
as a 50.

I do recommend the 40/1.4 + 28/3.5 or 40/1.4 + 28/1.9.
The 1.9 is not as big as sometimes said. It is smaller than
the 50/1.5 for example.

The 28/3.5 is an outstanding lens. f3.5 is only half stop slower
than the spectrum of 28/2.8 lenses available.

Best,

Roland.
 
the 35mm Skopar is an excellent lens, I currently have 28-35-50 (The 50 is a Leica) and for some rare occasions 90mm too. I always seem to use the 35mm most, its small discreet, produces fine contrasty pictures, excellent in low light at full aperture.
 
Consider the 50/2 Heliar Classic. It's between the Nokton and Skopar in size and speed, but it costs a little more because it's so fricken sweet. Or, so I like to think. 😀

Currently, I have the 50/2 and 35/2.5 PII, and I hope to get the 25/4 soon. I might like to add the 40/1.4 later, just for speed, but I don't need it at this point.

Paul
 
Ok so here is the new question.... this is what is currently deciding what I want to do:


The 40mm f/1.4 nokton vs 50mm f/1.4 Nokton. Which would you choose?
 
a 15mm lens is of limited use. While it may come in handy from time to time for dramatic or exagerrated views, it can get old fast. There seems to be a steady stream of used ones available, probably for this reason. My suggestion would be 24 or 28 plus a 35 and a 50.
 
cmogi10 said:
35mm Biogon and 50mm Planar!
Click to expand...

Too much. Dont want to spend this much money on lenses right now. That would cost me $1600 dollars just for that. When I could buy three CV lenses for the price of the just one Zeiss and see for the most part little difference to justify the price of the zeiss.
 
I think you can find those two lenses used for about the same price as your 3 most expensive lenses listed.
If not, I would get the 35 Biogon and the 50 nokton.

I'm just saying that because I amassed a herd of CV lenses and recently just sold everything for a 2 lens kit and I've never been happier.
 
Really? Hm.

Well I would go with just a two lens kit.. but i really want a superwide heliar 15mm... mainly for landscape shots, etc. 🙂


So i'm just going to be a 3 lens kit. hehe.


Oh and i guess the other thing that worries me is buying used... if i can indeed find used zeiss lenses for that cheap then hell i will definately buy that... but i'm afraid that the ZM zeiss mounts that if something goes wrong with the lens then I will be quite screwed when it comes to repair wont i? rather than buying a brand new lens and if it goes bad i would be covered under warranty i would assume?

Hmm... things to ponder. hehe.
 
That be your call, for me the 15mm would lose it's charm way to fast, I'd wait till everyone's getting rid of them and pick on up on the cheap. It looks like you've budgeted about 1115 (Your three most expensive lenses on the list)
I would get a 35 and a 50 (or better yet a 75, I hear good things about the CV 75)
The Biogon and Heliar 75mm is a great versitile compact travel kit that covers all your basis. ALso you can get them both new.
I'd get the 15mm later, it's certainly not as pressing.

Also, this is just my opinion, no right or wrong way, just how I would do it.
 
Im not much of a tele person. Never really liked lenses longer than 50mm really...

I guess im pretty much back where i was.. 50mm Nokton or 40mm nokton. hah. Decisions decisions.

Though your point about 15mm is quite valid.

I have a LTM 50mm right now... so I might use that as a basis to skip the Nokton. But I've heard wonderful things of the 50mm nokton. Superb sharpness even at f/1.5. Not sure though...
 
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